


The list

by dc4me44



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Angst, Divorced mommies, F/F, Family, Fluff, Swan Queen Week, days 5 to 7, mommy in love, parent trap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-16
Updated: 2017-07-23
Packaged: 2018-12-02 20:51:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11517225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dc4me44/pseuds/dc4me44
Summary: It wouldn't be Storybrooke if a curse didn't strike every other year taking people's memories away. Henry had to wonder whether or not the people of Storybrooke will, long term, suffer any permanent brain damage. Hopefully not.When Henry comes back from Space Camp he finds out that Storybrooke has been cursed once again, this time the curse making his mothers believe they're divorced and making one of his mothers forget they had a second child with his other mother.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this story will be a multichapter story. Hope you guys like it. Let me know what you think. Kuddos and reviews all help. A lot.

It wouldn't be Storybrooke if a curse didn't strike every other year taking people's memories away. Henry had to wonder whether or not the people of Storybrooke will, long term, suffer any permanent brain damage. Hopefully not.

 

This time the curse happened while he was away on space camp. His mom came to pick him up from the town line. There was a bus stop just meters from the line now. The first thing he noticed that seemed odd was that the baby car seat was missing from the car. His mom always had the car seat on, unless she cleaned the car, but then would put it back in. His 4 year old sister needed it. When they entered the yard he saw more things missing. There were no toys here and there around the house. The Trampoline in the back yard was missing. His room was just as he left it except that the photo of his mothers, his sister and himself were missing. He went around the house and saw that more photos were missing. There were those of him and his mom but not one single photo of Emma or Sofia. It was as if they never existed.

 

"Mom, did something happen while I was gone?"

 

"No honey, nothing happened."

 

"Why are there no photos of Emma and Sofia?"

 

His mom looked at him odd.

 

"Why would I have photos of Emma and her child around my house?"

 

Henry gulped. Why would Regina refer to Sofia as Emma's child? Sofia was the product of true love, both of them were her mothers. She looked at his mom and that's when she noticed, his mom's wedding ring and engagement ring were missing.

 

"Mom, why are you saying Sofia is Ma's child, and why did you take down your wedding ring?"

 

His mom looked at him odd.

 

"Henry, Emma and I have been divorced for the past 5 years. Ever since she cheated on me."

 

"Cheated on you? Ma would never do that! She loves you."

 

"Henry, we've been through this."

 

"No, you're not divorced, and Sofia is your daughter too, she's the product of true love, the true love between you and ma."

 

Regina sighs in defeat.

 

"Henry, you mother is many things to me but she's not my true love. Anyway, honey, I need to leave. I have a tough case on Monday and I need to prepare before I appear in front of the judge."

 

Henry stares after his mom as if she's grown a second head. What the heck was going on? His parents were not divorced! They were in love, deeply in love, he was in constant gag mode from the public display of affection from his mothers. No something was wrong. He went to his room and started taking notes his one note app on his phone. He wanted to see what else was different this time so he created a new notebook in the app calling it _Mission to Mars_. Given his recent space camp trip no one would think twice of this name.

 

_What I know_

  * _Mom and Ma are divorced_
  * _Mom doesn't know Sofia is her child too_
  * _There are no pictures of the 4 of us_
  * _There's no trace that mom ever cared for Sofia_
  * _Mom is not a mayor but a lawyer_



 

_What I need to know_

  * _Do they remember their fairy tale identities_
  * _Where is Emma_
  * _Who's the villain_



 

_What I need to do_

  * _Get mom and ma to kiss, their true love kiss could break the spell_



 

_Who can I trust_




 

He pondered on that page for a while his brain on a constant loop of "trust no bitch". He decided to leave that blank. He looked for his fairy-tale book and he was happy to see it was safely tucked into his closet. He looked through it in great detail making sure nothing's changed and made a note on the app that nothing's changed in the book.

 

"Mom, I'm going out for a bit," he yelled and he grabbed his laptop, put it in a backpack and went to grab his bike. He rode around town on a recognisance mission. First stop was the clock tower which was surprisingly not stuck. He took a note of that. He also took a note that the clock was only stuck in the first curse, not on any other curse. It was as if fate worked in such a way that his mom had to be stuck until she met Emma, as an adult and they could both work on parenting him. He opened a new subsection called " _vs the first"_ and noted the difference with the clock.

 

He went to the town hall and looked inside. The door no longer said _Regina Mills - Queen_ as it had for the past 5 years. Instead it said _Nehelenia Zircon - Mayor._

 

Henry started to scratch his head. The name sounded familiar but he couldn't put a finger on it. He opened his app and took notes again.

 

_What I know_

  * _Someone called Nehelenia Zircon is the Mayor_



 

 

_Vs the first_

  * _Clock still moving_
  * _Mom is not mayor someone else is_



 

He opened the internet browser on his phone and googled the name of the mayor. He had to try even though he knew it couldn't be that easy. But to his surprize it was. The very first article opened with _"Zirconia was created from Queen Nehelenia's fears of becoming ugly." (Zirconia Sailor Moon Dub Wiki)._ He smacked his forehead. Of course. That's why the name was so familiar. It also explained the eerie light. Not that he noticed it before but there was noticeable less light even if the sun was shining. It was rather creepy. It was as if the town was stuck in a partial solar eclipse. Was there a real solar eclipse happening? He googled that and saw that there was no partial or full solar eclipse on that day anywhere in the world. But of course Storybrooke had to be special.

 

He started reading on the villain to refresh his own memory. Then a thought came to him. Did that mean that Sailor Moon was in town? She could finally give his moms a run for their money on how many times a person can be targeted by villains. He opened his phone app again.

 

_What I need to do_

  * _Find out if Sailor Moon is in town._



 

What were the characteristics of Sailor Moon?  He needed to do some research to refresh his memory. He went to Granny's ordered a drink and opened his laptop to start reading. After 1 hour of reading the plot and watching a few videos on YouTube he starts to make a list.

 

_SM -_

 

He deletes it. Looks too much like the initials of that actor he hates that started a personal war against his fandom.

 

_Starlight_

  * _Blonde_
  * _In love with a brunette (*LI)_
  * _Said brunette loves to tease the blonde_
  * _They make magic together_
  * _The blonde's magic is stronger when the brunette helps_
  * _They have a child that does time travel_
  * _Said child also crosses realms and they cross realms for the child_
  * _Brunette is sometimes corrupted to be evil but the blonde always breaks the spell_
  * _Kid has her heart stolen and is kept alive by magic until heart is recovered_
  * _Kid also has magic that helps_
  * _The blonde usually has a lot of guys trying to get in her pants but she only has eyes for her LI_
  * _The blonde has a stalker that tried to kill her family including her child - stalker was killed_
  * _Brunette had a few people hit on them both male and female_
  * _Brunette thought to be a villain turns out was a hero all along_
  * _Brunette loses memory more often than the blonde - usually the blonde kinda saves the day with help, mostly they save the day together, or the kid helps_



 

He looks at his list and can't put his finger on it. His phone beeps with a message from his mom asking him what he wants for dinner. He thinks about it and then he orders _Cannelloni please_. He turns back to his list.

 

  * _Blonde eats a lot - mostly junk_
  * _Blonde can't cook_
  * _Blonde is always late_
  * _Brunette has a neat organized house_
  * _Brunette can cook and is a natural with babies_
  * _Brunette can sword fight_
  * _Blonde can throw things with precision (tiara magic)_
  * _They're both royalty_
  * _They end up ruling a city together_
  * _Blonde spends way too much time at the arcade/food place - she's friend's with the owners_
  * _Blonde hated school - writes badly, lacks good vocabulary_
  * _Blonde is clumsy_
  * _Brunette dresses really well_



 

"What are you doing Henry?"

 

He looks up startled. It's just Ruby though.

 

"Nothing, just making a list."

 

"A list? Are you trying to parent trap your mothers?"

 

"Why would you think that?"

 

"Some of your list sounds like Emma and Regina. Except the magic part and swords."

 

"Oh," he looks at his list. "Oh," he wonders if he can trust Ruby. He needs his mother's together to true love kiss, so if Ruby is game, he could use some help.

 

"As a matter of fact, I do want to parent trap them."

 

"Ahh great. I can take a break in 10, and we can discuss this," Ruby says as she leaves him alone to look at his list. Henry looks at the list again and converts it in a to do list instead and marks every item that suits his mothers. In the end he realizes they all have a tick. _Well shit_ is all he thinks. At least he doesn't have to look further than his own family. That made things easier all of a sudden. The smile forming on his face could rival that of his paternal grandfather.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the second chapter. Hope you guys like it. Let me know what you think. Leave some kuddos or a comment or both. All is appreciated.

His discussion with Ruby proves more fruitful than expected. He finds out his mothers "divorced" because apparently Emma cheated on Regina, yet no one knows with who. Emma says she doesn't know, everyone believes she doesn't want to say it. Henry knows it's all because of the curse that makes everything fuzzy. He needs to get to the bottom of this. Both Ruby and him agree that the only way to go forward is to get Regina to approach Emma. Emma won't because of the guilt and Regina will probably reject her because of the alleged cheating. So they have to find a way to play at Regina's heartstrings so she would approach Emma. Which, easier said than done when Regina doesn't even bother to be in the same room as Emma or Sofia. Henry realizes that the only way he could probably crack Regina is if he gets her to spend time with Sofia. His sister is the product of true love, there has to be some innate magic in her that would perhaps spark Regina's memories. So he writes another list on a new page in his Onenote app.

 

_Mission to mars - build the rocket_

  * _Plant the seed (of doubt) - show mom the book_
  * _Have mom spend time with Sofia_
  * _Find a way to have them stay in the same room_



 

He looks at his notes and finds he's happy with what he has so far. He puts his tablet away and goes home to his mom, he would go to Emma's but he has no idea where she lives. He'll need to tag along one day or ask Emma to come pick him up so he can visit Sofia. His phone contact still hasn't updated an address for Emma in his contacts, which fair enough, his phone wasn't cursed either.

 

That night he started working on his plan. Once dinner is finished and the table is clear he tells his mom he wants to talk to her about something. He runs to his room and brings out the book. She's surprised to see it but doesn't say anything.

 

"Do you know what this is?"

 

"A new book from the library?"

 

"No. It's a book I've had since I was 10 and that played a really important role in our lives."

 

She eyes him with suspicion, which he thinks it's fair enough if she's unaware of the book. He internally cringes because it's about to get worse before it gets better.

 

"I honestly have no idea what you're talking about, Henry."

  
"Well, you see, you're in this book, and so is Ma, and so is almost everyone in this town."

 

"So you think we are characters in a book or that someone wrote a story about us?"

 

"Yeah I guess. But the book is more a chronicle than a fiction. A biased chronicle but one none the less. You're from another realm," he then delves into telling her about the enchanted forest, a stable boy, arranged marriages, Snow White, Rumple, Emma. By the end of it his mom looks completely unimpressed despite Henry showing her the pictures.

 

"So what you're saying is that I am an Evil Queen, I cast a curse that took people from a medieval world and I gave them plumbing and central heating as a way for revenge, and that I'm a villain and your Ma is the daughter of my greatest enemy yet I get to marry her?"

 

And okay his mom was really good at spinning this stuff, no wonder she was a lawyer in this cursed identity.

 

"Yes, you marry her and you have a true love child with her. You have Sofia. You and Ma created a child with your true love."

 

The brunette was taken aback. It was true that she loved Emma more than life itself, however Emma betrayed her and that didn't change despite how much the brunette loved her. Everyday she was in pain from being away from Emma and having to live with the knowledge that the woman she loved so much could betray her like that. It's why she couldn't even be in the same room as Emma and why she even refused to look at the child. It was a painful reminder of what she had all those years ago and lost. Now Henry was telling her that Sofia was actually her child and Emma's and that somehow the two of them made the impossible possible.

 

"Honey, it's not possible. I mean you're 17, I don't need to tell you how babies are made, do I?"

 

"Eww, mom, no, I know how babies are made in general, but Sofia is special, okay?"

 

"Okay, Henry, riddle me this, why would I curse myself to live my current life, without Emma and without Sofia?" she almost said _my miserable life_ but caught herself just in time.

 

"That's because Emma broke the first curse with true loves kiss. You didn't curse yourself to this life. Someone else did."

 

"Who?"

 

"I think whoever's mayor."

 

"Why would you think that?"

 

"Because when I left for camp a week ago you were the mayor. Now someone else is and you're a lawyer."

 

Regina sat back in her chair arms crossed over her chest. Whatever story Henry was telling her sounded so outrageous, so crazy. Was her son going insane? But then again there was a small part of her that wanted to believe that maybe he was right. She wasn't happy. Emma didn't look happy either. She didn't know what to think. She kept silent. Henry spoke again.

 

"Although it's sunny outside, there doesn't seem to be a lot of light, does it? It's as if we live in a constant solar eclipse."

 

Henry decides to leave the room but he stops to drop a kiss on his mom's cheek telling her he loves her. He didn't want her to think he hated her or that he was upset with her. He wasn't.

 

Regina sits silently and hears the sounds of Henry going to his room. She gets up and pours herself a glass of cider, downs in one go it then she decides that won't do and goes to pour herself a glass of whiskey. She stares at the book Henry left behind and downs the glass in one go. She fills the glass again and goes to the book.

 

She spends the next few hours reading the book. It's rather biased, stacked against Regina herself, but she remembers what Henry said. It would make sense for a fairy-tale like that, a modern one where Snow is a warrior, to have the Evil Queen fall for Emma. She has fallen for Emma, she still loved Emma. She didn't know whether what Henry told her was true but she wanted it so bad to be true. She wanted Emma to have been hers and hers alone, no cheating and for Sofia to be her child. That kid was incredibly cute. _She has insanely good genes_ she hears whispered in her mind in Emma's voice, except that Emma never told her that.  But it feels like she had. She looks at the half full glass of whiskey. She's definitely had too much to drink but it's a good brand and it would be a pity to waste it so she finishes it.

 

She goes to bed that night and her dreams that night are filled with Emma, Henry, Sofia and herself being a family. She wakes up in tears and is unable to go to sleep. She reaches for the chain around her neck that still holds her wedding and engagement rings. She's been unable to part with them. She tries to think of their wedding vows, but they're a blur and the more she thinks the more she feels a headache come over her. That's not normal. She's seen enough movies to know that a sign of amnesia is that your head hurts when you try to remember stuff.

 

The next day is Sunday and Henry was out for the day. She decides to go out for lunch, after all it's a nice, sunny day. When she steps into the street she remembers Henry's words _"Although it's sunny outside, there doesn't seem to be a lot of light, does it? It's as if we live in a constant solar eclipse."_ She frowns at that looking around the town and yes, she can see the sunshine, she sees the shadow, but it's all so eerie and quiet and it's almost as if there's no light despite the sun being out in full force.

 

She goes into the diner and orders her usual. After lunch she takes her coffee to go and heads to the park. She starts to wonder aimlessly around looking at everything and nothing at all. She's startled out of her thoughts by a small body colliding with hers. Sofia. She gets down to check if the child is all right. When she touches Sofia her mind is flooded with images of herself talking to a baby bump, of kissing a pregnant Emma, of holding a small bundle in her arms. Emma's voice calling Sofia's name breaks the flood of images. Emma comes where they are and looks worried at Sofia before she turns to face Regina. The brunette's heart breaks in a million little pieces, it's been ages since she's been this close to the blonde, her perfume envelops her and she's at a loss, her brain short-circuited.

 

"Regina, are you okay?"

 

"Yes," she manages to reply and Emma gives her that shy Emma smile that she gave her when they first met. She looks at Emma holding Sofia and it's the first time she notices that Sofia while looks like Emma, also looks like Regina, herself, when she was little, or what little she remembers from family portraits. It's all foggy and she can't remember much and it hurts to think. It's like her memories are covered in dust and thick cobwebs.

 

"Okay," Emma breaks the awkward silence, but Regina's not ready to say goodbye. What if Henry's right?

 

"What do you say we go grab some ice-cream?"

 

Emma narrows her eyes at Regina, in all the time she's had Sofia, Regina never bothered to acknowledge the child. What caused the brunette to change her attitude?

 

"Can we mama?"

 

Too late to say no now.

 

"Of course we can, baby," then turning to Regina "lead the way, your Majesty."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very short chapter but I hope it explains a few things. Let me know what you think.

Regina froze in place and Emma's eyes became like saucers. That was completely inappropriate for Emma to say, but somehow the teasing was muscle memory and Emma acted without thinking. Regina having recovered from the shock smiled in return. They made it to the stand that sold ice-cream but all the way to it Emma cursed herself internally thinking she fucked it up. The one time Regina talks to her in years and she fucks it up _. Way to go Swan_ it's all she can think. She wants to cry, she's missed the brunette so much. Regina orders ice-creams for all three of them then they go to sit on a nearby bench. The women sit in silence and let Sofia tell them a story about a puppy she played with and how she fed the ducks by the pond earlier in the day.

 

Henry's walking through the park, having conducted what he thinks it's a successful recon mission. He found a few more characters with changed identities as well as the location of Emma's house and that of his grandparents and aunt. He looked up from his notes and nearly dropped his phone when he saw his mothers on a bench eating ice-cream with Sofia. He smiled and patted himself on the back with his free hand for a job well done. That was some major progress right there. He made his way to them as if by instinct, but not before snapping a picture of his mothers.

 

They both look up to see him and Sofia runs to him. She has a big brother is the coolest ever phase and Henry can't help but feel extremely happy with that. Regina gives him some cash to go grab himself an ice-cream which he eats in record time as he tries to distract his sister so that his mothers can spend some quality time alone.

 

"Do you think that there's not enough light despite all the sunshine?" Regina asks and Emma almost chokes on her own spit because of all the things she expected Regina to say that was not one of them. Also was that a philosophical question meant to describe their situation?

 

Emma's silent. She doesn't know what to say.

 

"Regina, I'm really, really sorry. There's not a day that goes by that I don't regret what I've done."

"I didn't ask you a philosophical question, Emma. When you look at the world around, do you feel that despite the sunshine there's less light? Like in a solar eclipse?"

 

Regina called her Emma, not Miss Swan, not sheriff but Emma, and the blonde's mind was blank. But Regina's asked her a question and Emma looks around and now that Regina mentions it...

 

"Now that you mention it, yeah it does look like it," she pulls her phone and searches on Google. There's nothing on Google about there being a solar eclipse anywhere in the world, but it certainly feels like it.

 

"Google says there's no eclipse, but it sure feels like it. Hmmm."

 

Regina starts to think now that Henry is right. She needs to ask him more details about how Emma broke her own curse and then work on getting Emma to break this one. But there's no need to say anything more to the blonde. Last thing she needs is Emma to think she's crazy and to fight her for custody of Henry. As she looks at Emma she hopes with all her heart that Henry is right. her eyes then focus on Sofia and Henry. The more she looks at Sofia the more she feels herself get attached to the child and she starts to see more and more of her features in the child.

 

Suddenly she grows impatient and although she wants to sit next to Emma for forever and a day, she wants to do that in the proper way, as Emma's wife, and if all it takes is breaking a curse then so be it. Besides she's sick of being separated from Emma. Before she has time to think things through she invites Emma and Sofia over for dinner that night. Emma is startled but accepts not needing a second invitation.

 

She grabs Henry on her way out and they both bid Emma and Sofia goodbyes and leave the park, the brunette all but dragging her son to a secluded spot, away from prying eyes.

 

"Tell me everything you know."

 

"You believe me?"

 

"Let's say you made a compelling argument."

 

"Which one."

 

"The solar eclipse. There's nothing on Google and it lasted half a day now and yesterday given your comments."

 

"All right, follow me."

 

He drags his mom to the Mills vault and Regina looks confused as to what they're doing in a mausoleum. He pushes the coffin and she gasps. From what she knows there was no secret entrance in her mausoleum. He drags her to what looks like a vault filled with odd stuff, but then he drags her to a wall at the back of the room, takes the mirror off, and takes it out of the vault.

 

"Why did you take the mirror out?"

 

"Trust me, you don't want that here."

 

"I thought I was the Evil Queen, you know _mirror, mirror_."

 

"Yeah, different villain this time. That reminds me, just to be safe, once we start, don't stare into mirrors or any shinny surfaces. The villain we deal with can curse you by you simply looking at your own reflection."

 

"With what? Narcissism?" the brunette almost snorts at this.

 

"Mom, I'm serious."

 

"Okay, I'm sorry."

 

Then he tells her everything he knows about the first and subsequent curses and how they were broken.

 

"So then I just need to give you true loves kiss or Emma needs to."

 

"Yeah, won't work like that. You need to true love kiss Emma."

 

"What?"

 

"What I said, you need to true love kiss Emma."

 

"It's not that simple."

 

"Yes it is. You love her and she loves you."

 

"It's not that simple."

 

"You've said that. But I get it you still doubt there's a curse."

 

"Henry, I'm sorry."

 

He sighs in defeat.

 

"It's okay mom. I know it's not easy to believe any of that," a pause, "here let me show you something." he opens his phone and goes to the family album to show her the picture he snapped of her, Emma and Sofia at the park. Regina looks at the picture mesmerized. They look like a family, they look so good together. Her fingers make their way to the screen but she mistakenly touches the screen the wrong way and the photo changes to a photo of all four of them.

 

"How?" is all she can muster to ask.

 

Henry frowns. Of course his phone wasn't cursed which meant he had all the photos from before the curse.

 

"I wasn't here when the curse hit, so my phone is unchanged just like my memory," he scrolls through his phone and shows Regina pictures from Sofia's fourth birthday. Regina stares at the picture its one of her, Emma and Sofia in front of the birthday cake, both women kissing one of the child's cheek. Henry scrolled through the pictures and there were more of Henry and his sister making funny faces at the camera.

 

"Henry," Regina is stunned. All that Henry told her was true. Emma and herself were together and they were raising two beautiful children together just a week ago. What she thought was her life was all a lie. She felt hope for the first time in a long time, she felt real hope. But also dread. Magic was real and someone was out there looking to get her and Emma.

 

"Who would try to separate me from your mother and why?"

 

"Well, I assume it's the mayor. You're the default mayor since you've created this town. Everyone else who's been mayor, was that because they cast a curse and had you cursed as well."

 

"Why would someone want to...," she pauses. Henry said she was the Evil Queen. "is it because I'm the Evil Queen?"

 

"Sometimes it happens because you were the Evil Queen and managed to piss someone off, but not always. The Snow Queen was after Ma, the Queens of Darkness were after Ma, the dark one was after both of you. Hyde was after the town but you to be more precise and the black fairy was after you and Ma, took everything from you and wanted Ma dead."

 

"So wait then I'm fighting the Black Fairy?"

 

"No she's dead. This villain is not a Disney villain. More like Toei."

 

"Toei?"

 

"Japanese anime company. Anyway, the villain is sort of inspired from the evil queen with the mirror bits and wanting to keep her youth, but she's worse."

 

"So what does she want?"

 

"Umm, I don't know, revenge or to be forever young?"

 

Regina lifts and eyebrow.

 

"I haven't figured it out yet. Still working on that."

 

"I suppose it doesn't matter. Once we break the curse it will be over."

 

Henry looks at his mother. She's really buying into this and he's happy. He's unsure why but he's happy she does it.

 

His phone vibrates, and Regina hands it over to him not wanting to invade his privacy. Henry glances quickly at the text "Is it okay if I go to Nick's?"

 

"It's fine. Are you going to stay there for dinner?"

 

"No. Mom and Sofia are coming over aren't they? So I'll be home. I miss family dinners even if it's only been a week."

 

"Okay, I'll see you later."

 

"See you," he goes to kiss her cheek again "don't look at your reflection for too long."

 

This makes her smile at him. She's probably insane for even entertaining all this but she can't help but feel hope bloom in her chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is dinner time.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma and Regina have dinner with their children

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you guys think of this new chapter. Next chapter will be the last.

 

The rest of the day found Regina fussing over dinner. She wanted everything to be perfect. She decided to cook Emma's favorite meal and desert. She takes a shower and takes extra care in grooming herself. She wanted to look her best. She was incredibly nervous. She looked at the clothes she prepared on the bed but decided against them. In the end she decided that the pants and shirt she prepared won't do. Luckily Henry made it home in time so she tasked him with looking after dinner making sure it didn't burn.

 

Thirty minutes later Henry saw his mom wasn't out of her room so he went to check on her.

 

"Mom, are you okay in there?"

 

"No I'm not," then she catches what she said and tries to rectify it, "I mean I'm okay, I'm just deciding what to wear. What do you think is better?" she goes to the bed and pulls from the pile a blue dress and a red dress. "Or," she puts them down and picks a black dress. "Maybe I should have gone with the first option dress pants and white shirt" she says more to herself than Henry.

 

"This is a bit over the top. Ma won't care. She's probably over the moon she gets to be in the same room you are."

 

His mom gives him a look that says don't argue and help. He sighs in defeat.

 

"Shirt and pants."

 

"Are you sure?" she sounds unsure.

 

"Yes," and with that he walks out of the room letting his mom get dressed.

 

Regina makes it downstairs thirty minutes later, makeup on and fully dressed in what Henry suggested.

 

As she was making her way down the stairs she heard Henry open the door to greet his mother and sister. As she walks down the stairs Emma looks up and their eyes meet. To Regina it feels surreal, like a scene in a movie where the princess makes her way down the stairs to the ball only to see the prince. A smile forms on her lips as she's finally at the bottom of the stairs.

 

Henry grabs Sofia and takes her coat off taking her to the living room where they can play. And awkward silence descends between the two women.

 

"I should probably say welcome and thank you for coming," and the brunette wonders why she's suddenly nervous and why all her social skills are out the door as her heart is gripped with nerves.

 

"Thank you for inviting me," Emma responds silly then awkwardly shoves the bottle of wine in Regina's hands. "Thought I should bring something. Your favourite, if I remember correctly."

 

"Thank you," Regina takes the wine "and you remembered correctly."

 

There's silence again and Regina doesn't know what to say or do and just asks Emma the first thing that comes to her mind.

 

"So how's work?" she internally rolls her eyes at her great conversational skills. How did she manage to date Emma when she was struggling to even speak?

 

"It's okay," but she doesn't sound to enthusiastic about it and that's odd because Regina remembers Emma loving her job. Emma doesn't even know why she signed up for the job. Her boss is a creep that makes her skin crawl every single time and in a bad way.

 

"You don't sound enthusiastic."

 

"It pays the bills and I can be quite flexible with Sofia while on this job."

 

Lucky for Regina, Henry already set the table with the nice china and even put the music on. Regina leads Emma to the dining room and announces to Henry and Sofia that dinner is ready.

 

Dinner goes without any problems. Emma's eyes light up when she sees Regina made her favorites and despite trying not too had seconds. Regina finds herself fussing over Sofia and marveling at how cute that child is. After dinner Henry takes his sister to play some more games leaving his moms alone to talk. That on paper was a good idea the only problem was that both women had no idea what to say, both too afraid to start the conversation.

 

"Henry's a good kid. We did well with him," Emma notes. Regina humms in agreement. "I hope I can do half as good with Sofia like we did with Henry."

 

"I'm sure you will, Emma, she's a great kid."

 

Emma smiles in return. "She loves you it seems. She's not fond of people in general but with you she's so... open."

 

"She's incredibly easy to be around."

 

"I want to also thank you for cooking my favorites."

 

"You're welcome."

 

"I really missed your cooking. I mean I get by now, thanks to you insisting I learn how to cook, but I'm nowhere near your level."

 

"Yeah, you've had your moments. Remember that time you burned the pasta?"

 

"That was totally because you distracted me," Emma replies to a mock glare.

 

Regina fakes offence by putting her hand on her chest and gasping.

 

"Are you suggesting that I distracted you on purpose?"

 

"I don't know, did you?"

 

Regina smirks in reply. "Maybe I did."

 

"For the record, I didn't mind the distraction."

 

"I'm not surprised, we ended up getting take away."

 

"That's not the reason. I just didn't mind the distraction," Emma repeats again and Regina finally gets it, she gets what Emma meant.

 

"For the record I loved distracting you."

 

Were they flirting? Maybe they were but Regina was too happy to play this game with Emma. She missed the blonde, her smile, her laugh, her voice, her touch, her smell, her taste.  It didn't help that the music Henry picked was quite romantic.

 

"This used to be your song," Emma heard it too, "we would always dance to it when it was on," her voice was far away lost in a memory. Without thinking, Regina got up and extended her hand to Emma.

 

"Would you like to dance?"

 

Emma looked up startled but it took a total of two seconds only for her mind to be made up.

 

"Yes," she said as she put her hand in Regina's and got up. As soon as she was up her hands went to Regina's waist just as the brunette's hands came to wrap around her neck. They started to sway to the music, lost in one another just as they were before the alleged divorce. As they were swaying to the music Regina started to play with the hair at the back of Emma's head. The blonde couldn't believe her luck. She had no idea why Regina was so affectionate all of a sudden, but she loved it. She missed the brunette like crazy.

 

"Is this okay?"

 

"Yes, more than okay. I missed this."

 

"So did I."

 

"I miss us. I know it's my fault and I'm sorry…" Regina puts a finger to Emma's lips to shush her. If Henry's right, Emma has nothing to apologize for so there's nothing there for Regina to forgive.

 

"It's okay my darling, it's all right," and Emma's eyes become big because she can't understand Regina's attitude. Regina removes her finger from the blonde's lips and instead moved her hand to cup Emma's face as she leaned in closer to the blonde, their lips a whisper away.

 

"Regina…"

 

But whatever was about to happen is interrupted by the Henry and Sofia barging in the room, Sofia running from Henry and laughing at their game. Henry mock pretends to catch her only for Sofia to run towards the two women. Henry stops his in his tracks and his mood instantly sobers when he realizes what they've just interrupted.

 

Emma breaks her embrace with Regina and bends down to pick the 4 year old, while Regina and Henry exchange a meaningful look and Henry looks quite defeated. His mothers almost shared true loves kiss, they almost broke the curse only for him to interrupt it.

 

"Are you having fun, baby?" Emma asks the child oblivious to the tension that's now settled between Henry and Regina. Sofia only nods and leans her head on her mother's shoulder. Both women recognize the signs of a tired child. Emma looks on apologetic at Regina, "I need to take this one home and put her to bed, before she grows too tired and gets too cranky to go to sleep."

 

"Of course. Let me help you."

 

They fuss around the room and the foyer, Emma and Sofia getting dressed to go out. As she's about to step through the door, Emma turns back to Regina with a soft smile.

 

"Thank you for tonight."

 

"Thank you for coming."

 

"Anytime."

 

"We should do this again sometime," and Regina's hopeful, after all they almost kissed.

 

"Yes, we should. See you around?"

 

"Yes. Have a good night Emma. Bye, bye Sofia." Regina  touched the kids head and then waved at the child and Sofia waved back muttering a tired bye as Emma started to make her way to the car. Sofia kept waving and Regina kept her hand up until Emma put the child in the car.

 

Regina stood in the doorway to see them get to the car and her heart broke to see the two walk away. When they were all but gone from her view she closed the door and leaned against it with her eyes closed. Dinner was intense for more than one reason, but she loved every minute of it. When she opened her eyes she saw Henry stand in front of her with an apologetic expression.

 

"I'm sorry, Mom, I can't believe you guys were about to kiss and I interrupted."

 

"It's all right Henry, there will be plenty more chances for your mother and I to share a kiss."

 

"But it could have been tonight, it could have all ended tonight."

 

Regina goes towards him and lifts his head. "I know honey, but we've had a really good start regardless." She kisses his forehead and walks towards the kitchen "want to help me with the dishes?"

 

"Sure," he replies as he follows her to the kitchen.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it guys. This is the last chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed it. Let me know what you think now that this story has come to an end.

Emma laid awake in bed thinking of the brunette and what they had, what they lost. She thought if their day together, and then dinner, when Regina made her favorite meal and desert. She thought how much of a natural Regina was with her daughter as if she's had the child her entire life. She thought of how fast Sofia latched unto Regina as if the brunette was her other mother. She thought of Henry's fond look and his smile when their eyes connected. And then there was her almost kiss with the love of her life. She was in pain thinking that she was so so close to kiss the brunette only to be interrupted. Her heart ached to have more of what they had at dinner and at the park. It was so easy to be around Regina. She reached for the necklace holding her wedding band and pulled the said ring to her mouth to kiss it imagining she was kissing Regina. She never took the necklace off, she never wanted to part with the last piece of Regina she had.

 

In the morning she dropped Sofia at day care and went to work. Around lunchtime she decided to do her rounds and headed towards her patrol car. She put her sunglasses on only to realize it was too dark with them. She took them off. It was sunny, not a cloud in the sky, yet there was barely any light. Regina's question came back to her and she stopped with the door open to the patrol car, unable to get in the car.

 

"Everything all right, Sheriff?"

 

It was the mayor. She always made Emma's skin crawl.

 

"Yes, I was just..." she caught herself saying remembered, somehow that would be the wrong thing to say "I was just thinking about whether I want a donut or a bear claw for lunch. Can't make up my mind."

 

"Well, carry on then, Sheriff, don't let me distract you," she says as she makes her way past Emma, trailing her fingers along Emma's shoulders. Emma shivers and not in a good way, not in that way that Regina makes her shiver by only looking at her, but in a creepy _get your hands off me_ way. She gets in the car and makes a run for Regina's office only to find out she went out for lunch.

 

She makes her way to Granny's and spots Regina sit at the corner table. She always sits in that spot, newspaper in hand. Emma pauses in the doorway and looks at Regina and she gets lost in thoughts about how beautiful the brunette is. She makes her way to the brunette's table and sits down across from her. Regina looks on startled at first but then she gives Emma a soft smile.

 

"Tell me I'm not crazy."

 

"You're not crazy, although you act like it?"

 

"Ugh,"  then she lowers her voice enough for Regina alone to hear "it's like we live in a forever eclipse." 

 

Regina puts her newspaper down and looks at Emma.

 

"So you've noticed."

 

"Impossible to miss it now that it's been pointed out. How come I never realized?"

 

"I didn't either until Henry pointed it out."

 

"When did he point it out?"

 

"Saturday when he came back from camp."

 

"A three day solar eclipse is impossible," Emma shrieks but still keeps her voice low.

 

"I know, it's also getting darker and darker," then Regina's face suddenly becomes hard as she leans back in her chair.

 

"Sheriff Swan," creepy mayor was back "have you finally decided on what to have for lunch?" she touches Emma again as her eyes connect to Regina's. The brunette feels like jumping across the table to rip out the mayor's heart and crush it to dust. She mentally shakes herself, Henry's book is now influencing her reactions. Still, she wishes she could form a fireball and blast the woman away. The fist that's in her lap, feels warm all of a sudden. She looks down to see it lit on fire. The mayor however takes Regina's lowered gaze as a sign of victory. Her hand makes its way to Emma's neck then shoulders in what Emma thinks its incredibly inappropriate if not creepy. The mayor smirks in Regina's direction once their eyes connect again then takes her leave.

 

"I fucking hate her. She's so creepy," Emma says in a low voice, but Regina hears her nonetheless.

 

"Is she harassing you?"

 

"More like molesting me."

 

Regina let's out an angry snarl all of a sudden.

 

"I don't know why the fuck she keeps touching me like that," Emma continues somehow feeling enabled to moan about the mayor given Regina's reaction. She never told anyone how much the lack of personal boundaries from the mayor disturbed her. 

 

But Regina knew, the mayor looked at her when she did it. She did it to hurt Regina, to one up Regina. It had nothing to do with Emma per se, not that she was trying to diminish Emma's own experience. But still, the mayor probably took it as a sign of victory when Regina looked down at her fiery fist. If she only knew. Regina felt ready to kill a bitch, especially if said bitch broke her family apart and made her live a lie all the while molesting Emma like that.

 

Regina looked outside the window to see the mayor make her way across the street. She flared her fist again and smirked when she saw it light up. She was ready to rip the woman to shreds. She got up and walked out of the dinner intent on ending the other woman. Emma saw it, and instant fear filled her. Regina's going to get her ass thrown in jail if she attacks the mayor and Emma won't be able to prevent it even if she's sheriff.

 

"Hey," Regina called after the Mayor. The woman stopped at turned to look at Regina.

 

"Yes Miss Mills? What can I do for you?"

 

A million things went through Regina's mind: give me my memories back, give me my family back, give me back my life.

 

"That's Mrs Swan-Mills to you. Leave Emma alone."

 

The mayor starts to laugh and that annoys the brunette to no end.

 

"Why would I do that? The Sheriff enjoys it. Besides you have no right."

 

"I'm her wife, but regardless Emma hates it and she never gave you consent to touch her like that."

 

The mayor lifts an eyebrow challenging Regina. Emma makes her way to Regina's side and touches her hand.

 

"Regina, stop, it's not worth it."

 

The mayor looks almost angry at their touching  hands and there's a fury in her eyes when she meets Regina's eyes. Regina opens her fist and links her fingers with Emma's, giving her a gentle squeeze. Regina smirks in reply challenging the other woman. She notices the mayor's gaze flicker for a moment as if she gave a command. She looks from the corner of her eye to see a rock spike make it's way towards Emma's back. In a split second she goes to sit between Emma and the rock spike as she pushes Emma out of the way. Emma's shocked for a second at being pushed by Regina but when she looks up she sees Regina be pierced by a large rock spike. Her mind can't even begin to understand how that thing is even real and she has no time to even think about it as she's busy catching Regina's collapsing body.

 

"Regina?" Her eyes fill with tears and she starts to sob. She should probably be asking herself where did that come from but all she can think is that Regina's hurt and bleeding and is that blood coming from her mouth? "Why?"

 

"I love you, Emma. I could never stand to see you hurt."

 

Emma sobs some more, so many years lost and Regina's loved her all this time, and she's loved Regina just as much.

 

"I love you too," she sobs some more because it can't end like this. Regina lifts her hand to Emma's cheek to caress her. Emma covers Regina's hand with her own, as the brunette closes her eyes and Emma lets out a strangled "No."

 

She bends down and touches her lips to Regina. A burst of light leaves their united lips and  suddenly the curse is broken and there's light, real full light all around, and there's light in Emma's heart as she remembers, she remembers who she is, she remembers her story, remembers that she's never been separated from Regina and that together they have a beautiful family.

 

Regina lets out a gasp and a cough as she comes back to consciousness. She remembers now. There was no cheating and Sofia and Henry are hers just like they are Emma's, just like she's Emma's and Emma is hers. There was never someone between them. They're both rising to their feet, Regina's injuries completely gone.

 

A horrified scream could be heard in the background and both women look up to see the mayor's figure melt in the real sunlight, her beautiful appearance all gone. She creates a ball of dark energy which she aims at Emma and Regina.

 

Emma feels anger sweep over her and Regina's fingers find her hand again, together they look towards their attacker and let their combined magic fight the darkness. Nehelenia's beam of dark energy is completely destroyed as the light created by Emma and Regina's magic envelops her and kills her, all that's left of her is a stone that becomes completely black and cracks at it hits the ground turning to dust. 

 

Emma turns to Regina and beams at her the brightest smile the brunette's seen in a long time. Regina doesn't hesitate to grab the collar of Emma's shirt and pull her in for a kiss. When they break apart Emma looks at Regina with a very serious expression.

 

"I nearly lost you. I thought I lost you. Never scare me like that again."

 

"Not sorry."

 

"How can you say that?"

 

"I was saving your life."

 

"Well don't."

 

Regina scoffs at that.

 

"I'm serious. I don't know what I would have done if I lost you."

 

Regina lifts her hand to wipe Emma's tears.

 

"I'm sorry I scared you. It wasn't my intention. I only wanted to save you, turns out once again you're the one saving me. My wonderful knight in red leather jacket."

 

Emma sniffs but smiles unable to contain a small laughter at the way Regina described her.

 

"No shinny armour?"

 

"We both know your jacket is your hero trademark like the S on Superman," she continues to caress Emma's face but then pulls her in for another kiss.

 

"I say we take today off. I've missed you."

 

"I've missed you too darling, so much. But I want my babies home as well. I've been without my Sofia for a week and you've missed your time with Henry since he came home. I can't believe that bitch made me forget my own family."

 

"Of course. But don't let Henry hear you say that. He won't be happy you're calling him a baby."

 

"He'll always be my tiny baby boy."

 

"Lets go take our children then," Emma grabs Regina's hand again as she poofs them to school where they can pick Henry and Sofia up. Henry barrels into them as soon as they make it to the school gate, he's carrying Sofia on his shoulders having picked her up as soon as the curse broke. Regina reaches for Sofia and she goes to her mother's arms without any protest and hugs her mother really close.

 

"You did it moms."

 

"Yes we did," Emma wraps her arm around his shoulder. Regina leans in to kiss his cheek.

 

"Thank you Henry. We couldn't have done it without you."

 

He wipes the lipstick away from his cheek but one arm hugs his mom regardless. He's missed his family. But they were together again, yet another curse broken by their true love.

 

**THE END**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys liked it. Leave a kuddo, a comment or both. Both is better.

**Author's Note:**

> If you've followed my stories you would have noticed by now I am a huge Sailor Moon fan. Like massive huge. Anyway let's just say the list Henry compiled is a list that I usually compile when I look at my two OTPs with massive heart eyes in my eyes - aka Mamoru/Usagi and Emma/Regina. Emma and Regina are my F/F version of Usagi/Mamoru so it's really hard to write a SQ story without being influenced by Sailor Moon. SQ makes it far too easy.


End file.
